


The Pros and Cons of being a Pankratz-Vengerberg

by hardlifeyourlife



Series: The Highschool AU We all Deserve [3]
Category: Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Brief mention of self-harm, Gen, M/M, Mention of Mental Health Issues, Siblings fighting, brief mention of self harm, but still 3rd person, geraskier is background, it's all resolved and yennefer calls him out in the end for it, jaskier and yen are step-siblings, jaskier's birth mom is dead, negative mention of mental health hospital, negative mention of therapy, they love each other but they hate each other, this is told from yen's pov, yen's dad is just an asshole
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 03:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23748469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hardlifeyourlife/pseuds/hardlifeyourlife
Summary: Jaskier and Yennefer have a complicated sibling relationship... in which they love and hate each other very intensely.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Jaskier | Dandelion, Jaskier | Dandelion & Yennefer z Vengerbergu | Yennefer of Vengerberg
Series: The Highschool AU We all Deserve [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1703041
Comments: 6
Kudos: 112





	The Pros and Cons of being a Pankratz-Vengerberg

Yennefer had moved into the Pankratz household kicking and screaming. She had made it clear to everyone involved that the last thing she wanted to do was live with Jaskier Pankratz, who at the time of his moving to Vengerberg was famous at his middle school for choreographing an entire dance routine to the _Gummy Bear Song_ and performing it at the talent show. It really didn’t help that the first time they’d met had been when her parents announced not only their engagement but also the impending move. 

Jaskier took the news shockingly well for his age and didn’t kick or scream at his father. Looking back, it seemed like a very reserved reaction for a boy whose mom had died just two years prior. 

Despite Yennefer’s insistence that the move and engagement would ruin her life and destroy her well-established reputation as being a scary witch who cursed the basketball players during recess, it didn't actually affect things as much as she thought. She continued hanging out with all of her friends after he and his father moved from Lettenhove, and she was now able to spread fear through the ranks of the underclassmen through his word of mouth. 

Jaskier always had a magnetism that she never managed to form, quickly making friends with not only the 5th graders but even got on semi-relative speaking terms with some 7th graders. It had been a testament to his charisma that the populars practically raised him as one of their own, and it followed him even into high school. Despite the fact that his regular seat in the cafeteria was at their little ragamuffin table filled with all of the people who didn't have anywhere else to sit or didn’t care, he was well-liked among pretty much everyone. Before he'd started dating Geralt he spent a lot of time with the more picturesque high school students at lunch and only fawning over Yennefer and her friends occasionally. 

As much as Yen hated to admit it... she liked him too. Just as much as everyone else did. But every bit of her affection that he managed to squeeze out had been hard-won by his actions.

Like right now, for instance. When Pavetta, future Junior Prom Queen and local brat, had started spreading rumors about Yennefer around the girl's bathroom. It had started out small at first, brief mentions of her being drunk at parties, but then it escalated to much more explicit topics. When Yen mentioned it in passing to her step-brother, she hadn't been bothered. What did it matter what a spoiled-bitch wanted to say in her own free time? She wouldn’t admit that it really did upset her, though, because she wasn’t supposed to care about any of it.

But Jaskier had immediately seen through her tone and pulled out his phone, falling back onto her bed and thumbing through it. He was uncharacteristically quiet, and she turned from where she was doing her make-up in the mirror to stare at him. 

"What are you doing?" She asked, and when he didn't answer she said it again, much louder and punctuated with the lid of her lipstick being launched in his direction. 

"It's just not acceptable, you know? A pretty girl like her," He got a wicked smile on his face, having obviously found the thing he'd been looking for, clicking his screen locked and dropping his phone on his bed. "And to think that she cheated on her boyfriend with poor Duny last summer." He waited for the gears to slide into place behind Yennefer's eyes. 

_"Julian!"_ She hissed, although she was wearing an evil smile. "What did you do?" 

"It's just a comment on her Instagram - it's nothing she can't delete as soon as she sees it." He waved a hand in her direction languidly. "I just thought it was good to see her and Craich beck together. I never thought she and Duny were a cute couple." He sat up a little bit, shoving his phone into his pocket and ruffling her hair. "It's what she gets for fucking with my sister." He said fondly, and she kicked at him as he exited her room, smiling despite her annoyance at his antics. Was it possible for him to do something sweet without ruining it?

He could and did constantly remind her that he was, in fact, a nuisance, and a bastard, though. Any sort of good deed was almost immediately overshadowed by him being a complete ass of a brother and that the only good thing a Pankratz could ever do would be to die. And she made sure to let him know whenever she felt this way. 

"I swear to _Jesus Christ_ , if you don't unplug your guitar I'm going to scream." She said, slamming open the door to his bedroom and reaching for the plug. He’d been playing nonstop since about nine in the morning and it was a Saturday for god sakes. 

He let out a noise of protestation, slapping her hand away and standing in between her and the wall, attempting to keep her from her intended goal. "Hey - hey! Last I checked this was my room. I don't come barging into your space demanding that you bend to my every need."

"I don't really care about your space right now, I care about my sanity and my math homework. Other people live in this house too, dick." She said, and despite her anger, she took a couple of steps towards the door, her point having been made.

"As if you care about other people in the house when you're fucking your girlfriend when Dessah and dad aren't home - we share a wall, Yennefer! A very thin one!" Her face flushed, but he continued, not noticing the change in her demeanor. "And for the record, you would fail math even if I was a mute, so don't pretend that-"

"Oh, I would fail math? You're the gay ass twink who had to retake algebra one. Who retakes algebra one? All you have to do to get an A in that class is fucking _breathe_ -"

"Don't call me a gay ass twink like you have any idea-"

"Julian, you just said we have thin walls, do you think I like listening to you on the phone with Geralt all night-" She took on a falsetto, trying to mimic Jaskier's voice. "Oh, G, I don't wanna hang up, please let me fall asleep on the phone with you~"

"Those are private phone calls, you witch, why are you even listening-"

In the end, he did turn his music down, after one of their parents intervened. They grounded them both for the argument and the cursing, taking away their phones for a week. Not that it would help to lessen either of the two issues their parents had with the situation, but it did make them finally leave the other alone and hide out in their rooms for a couple of days. It was like a refreshing breath of fresh air, and it made Yen wonder why her parents ever thought that moving them in together was a good idea. 

But they were actually very similar people, and at the end of the day she could come home with almost any problem and he’d help her fix it. He’d guarded her like a trained hound every time she’d introduce them to another potential partner (His favorite line was always “Everything you do to her I’m going to do to you times 10”) and had actually at one point gotten into a fistfight with a guy who had been giving her trouble. 

As perfect of a child as Jaskier seemed under everything, though, he still had his own tough days when he needed her before anyone else. He was never bullied, of course, and any social issue he could deal with by snapping his fingers and smiling politely. But as he got older, it seemed like he dealt with things harder and harder, especially stress around his schoolwork. Her step-brother kept a very detailed and color-coded agenda, both on his phone and a physical copy he carried around in his backpack. Yen had snuck a glance into at once and, along with nausea from the amount of highlighter on each page, she immediately felt stressed at how busy he seemed. 

He was fine with all of this usually, and he managed to schedule everything very neatly - making time for guitar lessons on the weekend and storing some away for practicing baseball on Sundays with his dad - although he had a bad habit of showing up later too, well, everything. Usually by only five minutes, and he’d always appear red-cheeked and smiling from the little jog he’d had to do to get there. 

However, something would slip through the cracks eventually, and usually would about every couple of weeks. He’d forget to study for a test or have to beg his way out of a shift at work just to finish a project, and Yen would start to see his facade slipping. 

This time it was a book report; the usual constant sound that was usually coming out of his room had faded hours ago, and Yen was curious. He’d shut the entire family out of his room, declaring that he had to work on this and not to complain about his music being too loud for at least the next twelve hours. 

But it was quiet - how could Yen help herself but to press her ear against the door? As she was walking past though, she saw that it was open a little bit, and she peeked in. There were papers strewn all about the room, some crumpled and stepped on, some cut up into little shapes. Mostly, though, it looked like he’d ripped open a binder and threw the contents around the space in a fit. The contents of his desk, which was usually littered with water bottles and various pieces of make-up and pens had been swiped onto the floor, and his standing mirror was tipped over. 

She opened the door a little more, eyes widening when she saw Jaskier curled up into a ball and sitting under his window, his head between his knees. Her mom was crouched next to him with a hand on his back, soothing him gently. Yennefer could make out the slight heaving of his shoulders and occasional sob punctuating his words, and then his tear bright eyes jerked up suddenly, catching her own. 

He stared at her for a minute before furrowing his brow and picking up a wad of paper and throwing it in her direction. “Get out!” He wiped at his face hastily, fresh tears replacing the ones that had only just disappeared. She didn’t need any further pushing, raising her hands in defeat and closing the door behind her. When she made it back to her room she grabbed her phone, sending a fervent text message and attempting to go back to the work she’d been doing.

>   
>  _Julian is having a fit in the other room_   
>  _  
> **White One: Fuck.  
>  White One: I should probably call him, right?**  
>  _   
>  _I think he would probably calm down if he could  
>  talk to u_   
>  _  
> **White One: Okay, thanks.**  
>  _   
> 

A few minutes later, she heard Jaskier’s phone ring and her step-brother jumped to answer it, recognizing Geralt’s special ringtone. His door opened and closed as her mother left, and Yen could hear her go down the hall and back to the living room where Jaskier’s dad was probably waiting. She practically forgot to listen in on their conversation, trying to decide who she wanted to eavesdrop on before putting her ear against the wall.

_“-I’m not crying, I just don’t feel really good right now.”_ She was a little surprised that he wasn’t immediately spilling his guts to Geralt about it. _“I know I meant to call you when I got home, I’ve just been busy with some homework… I missed you too… well, this is probably going to take me all night, but-... well tomorrow I’ve got band practice and then -...”_ It sounded like Geralt was trying to make plans with him. She could hear Jaskier flipping through all of the loose paper on the ground before stopping, having finally found what he was looking for. 

_“Okay, well, I’m supposed to tutor Duny tomorrow after practice, but I can text him and see if he’s okay with canceling… Well if he’s really having trouble then I don’t want to leave him hanging… And his mom gave me fifty dollars last time… what if I was thinking about buying you a gift?... Fifty dollars could buy make-up and a seven-month anniversary gift… well, I think it’s necessary!”_ With every response from Geralt, Jaskier seemed to relax, and by the end of the conversation, he had calmed down enough to be laughing and flirting with his boyfriend easily. It was a stark change from the kid who had apparently trashed his entire bedroom in an anxious fit, but it was nice to feel that she helped him in some way, even though Jaskier probably didn’t even realize it. And she was happy that Geralt seemingly hadn’t mentioned it, either. Her phone beeped and she picked it up, glancing at the incoming text message.

>   
>  _  
>  **White One: I think he’s calmed down now.  
>  White One: We’re going to try and go to the movies  
> tomorrow if you want to come. **   
>  _   
>  _Im gonna pretend that you didnt  
>  invite me on your date _   
>  _  
> **White One: I didn’t know that he still had fits.**  
>  _   
>  _I dont think he wants u to know_   
>  _  
> **White One: Why?**  
>  _   
>  _Idfk_   
>  _Idc_   
>  _  
> **White One: Should I be worried?**  
>  _   
>  _Im not ur marriage counselor_   
> 

She didn’t have an answer for him, honestly. But it was Jaskier - he always bounced back from things, this might as well just be a blip on the radar for him. A constant blip, maybe, that always came around again and again. But a blip nonetheless. 

>   
>  _  
> I think in 5 min we wont even knw he was upset  
> _  
> 

Geralt didn’t respond, so she went back to her homework without another thought. 

It came up again two weeks later, and Yennefer found herself eavesdropping once again. For the fact that he couldn’t keep a secret, Jaskier could be intensely private when he wanted to be, and his dad knew better than to approach him with something like this out in the living room where anyone could overhear it. That never stopped her before, though. 

_“Your mother and I wanted to talk to you about a very sensitive topic - but one that we feel would be very beneficial for us to at least think about.”_ He said softly, and Yen could almost see them both sitting side by side on the bed, one hand on his son's shoulder. _“We were wondering how you would feel about… therapy.”_ Yen tried to withhold her gasp, putting a hand over her mouth as Jaskier responded. 

_**“Oh, I thought this was going to be something serious. I mean, I have a lot of friends in therapy, and I honestly think she could really benefit from it. Have you seen her-”**_ Yen snarled as she realized he was talking about her, and suddenly his very calm demeanor made sense. Her hand flew to her wrist subconsciously and tried to put her anger aside for later. 

_“What? No, son. I don’t mean Yennefer. We thought that you would be interested in talking to someone.”_

_**“What? Me? What do I have to talk to a therapist about? I’m actually really happy, Dad. If this is about mom-”** _

_“We were thinking that you might want to talk to someone about your… anxiety attacks? The other week you broke your mirror because you were so stressed. And the time before that you threw your book so hard into the wall that you dented it.”_ Yen didn’t remember that one - when did that happen? How many times was he having fits without her knowing it? _“And the time before that you broke that plate on the counter-”_ That one she did remember, in fact, she had been right there when it happened. It had been terrifying when he’d set it down too hard and the pieces went flying everywhere, and then he’d only barely been able to hold in his tears before sprinting to the bedroom and slamming the door behind him. 

_**“If I go to therapy I think I’ll mention this conversation first.”** _

_“Julian-”_

_**“I’m sorry that you and Dessah seem to think that I’m the basket case in this family but I promise you that I don’t need anyone's help. I’m not depressed and I’m talking and I’m not retreating into myself like I did when mom died so you don’t have to be worried.”** _

_“But you are retreating into yourself! You won’t talk about it or share it with anyone, you close your door or run into your room when the slightest thing goes wrong. We’re worried about you.”_ There was the sound of hurried movement from the other side of the wall and the sound of a backpack zipping up. _“Julian, where do you think you’re going? Get back here-”_

_**“I’m going to go to Geralt’s and do homework where people don’t think I’m crazy.”**_ Yen could hear him going down the hallway and then the front door slammed shut. She looked out her window and saw him hop on his bike and then down the street, pedaling hard and fast in the direction of his boyfriend’s house. 

She stayed up late waiting for him, worried that he wouldn’t come home. He was with Geralt, that much she knew because she had texted the other boy at around ten when there had been no sign of her step-brother. She wasn’t surprised when she saw their friend's car pull up in front of the house at midnight and watched as Jaskier climbed out of the passenger seat. He stood by the driver's side window, obviously stalling, before pulling his bike out of the trunk and trudging up the driveway. 

Yen jumped for her phone, grabbing it and texting him as quickly as she could. 

>   
>  _windows unlocked - they’re sitting up in the kitchen_   
> 

Next thing she knew he was climbing in through her bedroom window as noiselessly as he could, sitting on her floor for a minute without moving. She was in her pajamas, standing up and closing it behind him before finding a spot on the floor with him. He didn’t move to acknowledge her even when she wrapped her arms around him tenderly. He smelled faintly of cigarettes and musk, the general smell of Geralt’s home, and it made her happy that he’d actually gone there. That he hadn’t been alone for the past ten hours since he’d run off. 

“I guess they told you?” He whispered, and she shrugged. “I can’t believe this is happening.” 

“Did you talk to Geralt about it?” She asked softly, and he shook his head. 

“What would I even tell him? ‘Hey, I know that I’m the perfect boyfriend and I come with zero baggage, but really I’ve just been hiding it all this time and also my parents want to put me in the nuthouse’.” 

“Talk therapy is not the nuthouse, you’re being dramatic. And rude, actually, to all of our friends who have had to have treatment. It’s not a bad thing to need help.” She lay her head on his shoulder, basking in the silence that her words had wrought before continuing. “When you freak out, J.. it’s terrifying. It’s scary. And nobody knows what’s going on and no one can help you - you need to learn how to control those feelings before you really hurt someone.” 

“Like the plate.” He said numbly, clenching the loose fabric of his jeans and bending his head down to his knees. She nodded. “I feel like… I’m supposed to be put together. And… I’m easy, you know? I’m easy to be friends with, I’m easy to date. I’m easy to have in class. I don’t want to let anyone down.” He said softly, and she clicked her tongue at him. “And everyone wants me to do something for them, work and school… there’s so much and it’s all so carefully planned that if anything goes wrong it could-” He was starting to freak out again, and she ran a hand over his hair to calm him down, interrupting his train of thought. 

“This is the kind of stuff you would tell a therapist. And also your boyfriend. But mostly a doctor, because they could really help you not think like that.” She paused, weighing her next statement in her mind before continuing. “And, besides. If it helps, you’re the hardest brother to have. You going to therapy and talking about the way you feel would actually mean you were treating me better than you do now.” She teased, and he smiled at her. 

“I don’t treat you awful, do I?” He asked softly, turning his head to look at her, and she saw his eyes glistening slightly. 

“No, you don’t. You’re a good brother. But don’t think I didn’t hear you telling your dad that you thought I needed therapy, you asshole. Mind your own damn business next time.” She said, pinching his side. 

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I just… didn’t realize that I would need help… Yen?” He asked, watching her climb up into her bed and pull the covers over her. “Can I sleep in here tonight? I think that they’ll hear me if I go to my room now.” He said sheepishly, and she rolled her eyes. 

“Fine. But keep your feet out of my face.” She said, tossing a pillow to the other side of her bed and making room for him to crawl under the blanket, clicking her light off as he did so. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Comments are always welcome!
> 
> I also want to make a series out of this so if you have anything you want to see from this AU shoot me an ask at [i-am-a-blobfish](https://i-am-a-blob-fish.tumblr.com/) or comment and I'll try to write it!


End file.
